Djurgården’s first shipyard
Ships have been built at Djurgården for several hundred years. As early as 1712 and until 1863, the area that is now Gröna Lund was a shipbuilding haven. Some of the buildings are still here today, such as the shipyard office that is now Gröna Lund’s office.
’Stockholms Ångslupsaktiebolag’ (SÅA) needed a central location for winter storage and so they bought the Grönland property in 1868. Near the quay at Beckholmssundet, SÅA built a repair shop, a smithy and some equipment. Over time, Djurgårdsvarvet grew. They built a machine shop (now Linhult & Jonsdotters Snickeri) and a boat shed (now Oaxen Krog & Slip).
Between 1970 and 1980, Djurgårdsvarvet was Waxholmsbolaget’s home port.
Djurgårdsvarvet today
When the last Vaxholm boats left in 1980, some real estate companies took over Djurgårdsvarvet, all of whom planned to build luxury real estate in the shipyard area. They presented their first construction plans in 1985. Thus began the fight to help save the shipyard and conserving the marine environment that had been there for centuries and was a part of Djurgårdsstaden and its history.
However, Stockholm’s planning authority chose to go ahead and invest in housing. The City of Stockholm and JM AB wrote a letter of intent on housing construction at Djurgårdsvarvet in 1999. In that same year, a detailed plan focusing on housing was approved.
Building housing at Djurgårdsvarvet was going to have an impact on the shipyard operations at Beckholmen. During the year 2000, discussions began as to how to save Beckholmen. It became clear that is was important to save Djurgårdsvarvet, as that also meant saving Beckholmen. And the hard work paid off in the end. In 2004, Stockholm’s planning authority decided to suspend the plans for building housing at Djurgårdsvarvet.
The shipyard is saved
On 12th June 2006, Stockholm City Council approved an agreement which meant that the Royal Djurgården Administration (KDF) acquired the Grönland area from JM AB. KDF then signed a lease with Nya Djurgårdsvarvet. The shipyard had been saved!
When renovation work began on the old shipyard in 2006, these were the visions:
To protect and nurture Sweden’s unique fleet of classic wooden boats, the shipyard and its historical buildings and surroundings, as an important part of our maritime heritage
To preserve, develop and practise the tradition, knowledge and craftsmanship that are key to maintaining, restoring and building new classic wooden boats
All of the activities that take place at the shipyard should be public i.e. visitors should be able to visit the craftsmen on their premises
We will use any surplus to develop the shipyard’s operations
Now, 15 years later, we are pleased to say that these visions have been met. The public are now able to discover Nya Djurgårdsvarvet’s unique environment.
The renovation helps protect important cultural values (11.4)
